Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

   From: http://nycga.cc/2011/09/30/declaration-of-the-occupation-of-new-york-city/


Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
Posted on September 30, 2011 by NYCGA

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

I Hate Credit Cards: Part III

   The other day I received a statement in the mail from the second-to-the-last credit card to have been paid off. Despite the card having been paid off, the statement showed the current balance as $11.32.

   WTF!?!? Okay, okay, after my last experience with this I pretty much knew what was going on. Credit cards, it turns out, calculate interest daily, but do not add that interest to the balance until the end of each billing cycle. So, even if you get your balance online (which one might think would be a real-time balance), and pay it online on the day, you are not actually paying the total due. Why would they keep this information from you?

   Why do you think?

   Unfortunately for me, we paid this one off before getting the statement from the second-to-the-last card, so I was not yet aware of this evil device when we paid this last card off. I decided to make a phone call.

   After the typical phone-key menu designed to make a person hang up in frustration I finally reached a human being. I explained the dates and balance paid and reasons for believing that I did not actually owe them another $11.32. The call center professional then began reading their script about how purchases are added...

   I stopped him. "We haven't used this card in over a year. There were no new purchases."

   He said, "If you would let me continue..." and proceeded to explain how balances are carried over.

   I knew exactly what was going on -- they took nine days worth of interest and fees and applied it against the balance before it was paid off. I was arguing that if I took the balance from their website it should be real-time and there should be no balance.

   At this point the call was dropped.

   I hate cell phones.

   I called back. Understand, I knew how it worked and that I was playing their game and they make the rules. The last card I dealt with dropped these charges because, let's face it, it's petty money grubbing. So I get a new call center professional on the line who reads me the exact same script. I have the same argument until I get tired of being told that I am the one who does not understand by a person who clearly can not work off-script. I keep explaining that, if I paid the balance off during the last billing cycle, how do I know that they aren't going to send me a bill next month for the interest and fees on $11.32?

   "What do I have to do to pay this thing off and never have to deal with you people again?!"

   I was transferred to an executive who tried very hard to save me from ruining my credit by closing such a important account. This person was able to immediately waive the interest charges "as a courtesy" before I had a chance to ask. I explained my frustration in paying off the card and then receiving a bill that the card still carried a balance and complained about their practice.

   I was then offered to have all charges waived except for a $.09 fee which was handled by a different office and given the phone number for that office. As I was about to agree to these terms, keep the account open, and call the next office about the last $.09 (which I would have paid regardless of principal), I was told that the others fees were not able to be waived. So I'm back at interest waived, but I still owe all of the fees.

   I said, "How can I pay this off, close the account, and never have to deal with [bank name here] again?"

   After another volley of how bad the bank would feel for me to lose this grand gold star on my credit report I assured them that I would be just fine to never speak with them again.

   I paid $5.09 and felt simultaneously free and like I was taken for a chump.

   The balance has shifted too far to Hamilton. If we're really going to make important decisions based on the people and events of 200+ years ago, we need to understand all of the founders. Personally, I'll take Adams and Jefferson.

I REALLY Hate Credit Cards

   I posted a couple weeks ago that the wife and I had paid off our final credit card!

   Tonight we were basking in the afterglow of a credit-card-free, productive weekend when my wife looks up from her email and says, "[banking institution]sent me an email saying our statement is ready."

   I was immediately angry. "What does the statement say?", I asked.

   "Let me look... $6.03. It says we owe $6.03."

   I said something not suitable for family radio. To backtrack, this was not even the last card we paid off. This is the same card I wrote about in "I Hate Credit Cards". We checked with the bank before sending in the last payment to make sure we were paying every last cent owed. On the day the final payment went through, my wife called (it was her card) and asked specific questions to verify the balance was indeed zero and the account was indeed closed. She was assured the balance was indeed zero and the account was indeed closed.

   Fuming, I asked her for the phone number, account number, and date of the final payment. After the usual keypad gymnastics with the phone I finally got a person on the line. After verifying my identity I explained that we paid the card off on "X" date, we called to verify and were told the balance was zero and the account was closed, and asked how we owe $6.03?

   The customer service person on the other end started by saying, "I am taking care of that now. It will take 3-5 days to process, but after that the balance will be zero. Let me explain the charge...".

   I was then told that this particular bank calculates interest daily, but only from billing date to billing date. Since two weeks had passed from the last billing date to the date of the last payment, the $6.03 was interest on the balance during that time, and just so I understand, this is how the billing cycle and interest works, but if I call the interest can be waived. I was apologized to that this was not made clear during our last phone call and reassured that the charge was dropped.

   I asked one last time, "So, it will take 3-5 days, but then the balance will be zero and the account will be closed?" After being reassured (again) this was indeed true, I said thank you and goodnight.

   To sum up, the account was paid in full, we verified that with the bank, they charged us interest anyway, and when we called them on it they dropped it with no question or argument. The sinister part is that they plainly told me, even if you pay your card in full the day your bill arrives (or when you view it online in "real time"), there will be undisclosed interest still owed on the account.

   This reeks to me of a scam. Worst case scenario, the bank gets an angry phone call and drops the charge. Probably what usually happens is people will pay one or two occurrences before the angry phone call and the bank makes $6.03 off a few thousand people. Best case scenario is the people who believe the account is closed and let months of interest and late fees build up and, with any luck, can't dig themselves back out of debt this time.

   This is the kind of thing We The People need to stand up against. A truly "free market" would never allow a company that treats it's customers and neighbors this way to get "too big to fail". I am so fed up with banks and credit cards and CEOs and executives that live like lords by taking advantage of the have-nots.

   It doesn't help that I saw this earlier today.

   It's time for a revolt.

A Good Day

   Last night my wife and I were paying the bills (okay, she does most of the actual work) and we made a startling realization. Due to a perfect storm of dates lining up well with paychecks and rent this month and next, a couple of really good weeks at work for both my wife and myself, and the fact that we have cut our expenses over the past two and a half months, we had enough money left in the bank after paying bills to not only make a significant payment on our last credit card, but pay the entire balance. It would leave us stretched pretty thin, so we agreed to sleep on it.

   This morning we both looked at each other and said, "Let's do it!"

   It will take a day for the payment to be processed, but once it is we will be credit-card-free!

   We are far from our goal of being completely debt-free, but all of our high-interest, soul-sucking credit cards are paid off. To all the credit card companies I sincerely wish you nothing but demise. You are all bone-picking vultures and deserve to reap what you sow. I vow never to borrow money on credit card terms again.

   At this point we still have some loans and a hospital bill. While it's still a tall mountain to climb, it feels great to have the two-steps-forward-one-step-back part of the journey behind us. I also still have yet to complete our tax return, but all that is left at this point is a final go-over and paying the thing.

   We were even able to keep a few dollars to take to the produce stand and the butcher to pick up some fruits, veggies, and raw milk. We cleaned the kitchen (no small task since the dishwasher broke a few days back), I made a big vegetable salad and a fruit salad while my wife made pork chop stew. After dinner we prepped some ribs for tomorrow, did some canning, and started picking out heirloom seeds and planning this year's garden.

   As I type, several pints of canned milk are cooling on the kitchen counter. I'll post an update on how that experiment turns out.

   All in all, it was a good day.

Rethinking Resolutions

   Less than two months after I posted my resolutions for the year, I am beginning to wonder if I aimed too low. As I said, we are primarily focused on getting out of debt. I have talked a little about our experience on this journey here and there. Let me first bring you up to speed.

   We are starting with our credit card debt, focusing on the highest interest rate cards first. While we have made very good progress on this front, there have been setbacks. First was Washington State informing me that, as an independent contractor, I have been delinquent in filing for a business license and paying taxes on such a business (mentioned in This Time Of Year). I reconciled this as quickly as I was able and found that the taxes owed did not amount to anything we couldn't handle. Sometimes it works out in our favor that we don't make a lot of money. Still, it was a setback.

   Our second setback has been Federal taxes. I have been going back and making sure we are including everything and in doing so have been able to bring what to owe to a reasonable amount, but it looks like we will still owe money. That's another setback.

   The third, and most irritating setback came in the form of a credit card debt of which we were unaware. In a nut, a couple years back my wife was in the process of getting her business licenses transferred to Washington State (I swear, this state has a serious racket with it's licensing!), we were in a pinch and agreed to put about $200 in fees on a credit card. By our own mistake, we used a card (Card A) that we had already paid off, intending to use a different card (Card B) from the same institution. Unfortunately, neither my wife nor I can recall receiving a statement on Card A. We naturally assumed our payments on Card B were going toward the debt. That is, until we recently received a collection notice on Card A, which had now run up to almost $700 on interest and fees. It took a couple weeks and many phone calls to both the bank and the collection agent explaining our position and flat out refusing to pay $700 on a $200 debt for which we were never billed before we were able to finally settle the account for about $350. A very frustrating setback and one more reason to hate credit cards.

   All that said, we are making better progress on paying down our debt than I expected. I am making it my goal to be completely out of debt before the end of the year. I really think we can do it if we stay focused.

   I have done almost nothing with the writing project I mentioned in my resolutions. I have been waiting for information from someone on which to base my decision on which project to pursue, but I haven't pushed the issue because I've been depressed and otherwise occupied. I intend to remedy that.

   I also did not want to get specific because some things are kind of up in the air right now. I realize now that I don't need to understand how it might happen, I just need to put it out there. That said, I intend to have a productive garden this year and to put some wild game into my freezer this year. I intend to have a location for the family farm by this time next year. I will learn more about eating healthy and sustainably as we make greater strides this year toward being self-sufficient and sustainable.

   My family will be happy and healthy.

I Hate Credit Cards

   We've been making good progress on our primary resolution to pay down our debt. Both the wife and I have been stashing money whenever possible and paying as much as we can on the highest-interest debt first. I mentioned in This Time Of Year, we already paid the two credit cards with the highest interest (and lowest balances) and we are now attacking an account with a more significant balance.

   This past week we received a generous offer in the mail from said institution. The letter stated that they were introducing "a new way to get out of debt faster!" They offered us a $100 credit to "help you reduce your balance." All we have to do is get online, enter our personal invitation code, and sign up for the offer.

   Of course we checked it out. Effectively, the offer is this: if we agree to their terms we get a $100 credit in six months. What it appears they have done is divide our balance by six and round down, coming up with a monthly payment that will not quite pay off the balance at the end of six months. All we have to do is stop paying so much on the account and drag it out longer to get the $100 credit. In the meantime they make hundreds of dollars in interest and the card would still not be paid off, but this is a "faster way".

   In reading the FAQ for this program, there are all kinds of caveats to the offer. Any use of the account including automated transactions nullify the offer. All fees and charges associated with the account will still be charged. Basically, it's a deal formulated to look good to anyone who wants to pay off the card but is not good with financial math or details and get more money from them.

   I declined the offered and when asked why, I said this:

"Having recently made significant progress toward paying off this debt, this offer seems like a thinly veiled attempt to stretch the balance out and collect more interest. That interest will come to more than the $100 credit after six months.
I intend to be done doing business with [card name] much sooner than six months.
Thanks though."

   I hate credit cards.